Everything unpleasant about football was epitomised by YM's defeat at Selsey in a bruising contest on a cold Tuesday night.
As the smoke cleared from Selsey's High Street ground, even the most hardened YM supporter would have found it hard to argue with the result but the manner in which the game was played left an unsavoury taste.
Late tackles, elbows, bad language and poor sportsmanship littered the proceedings and the game would have been better if the referee had not brought the ball out for the second half.
Wayne Potter and Peter Durrant were both sent off for the visitors, the latter for a handball on the line, and how Paul Lee did not join them after throttling Dean Carden was a mystery as referee Nigel Baker flashed his cards during a rough second half.
"It was a dreadful night," admitted YM manager John Suter as he mused over his post-match pint. "We were awful from front to back and back to front. It's the worst we've played all season. We're 40 miles from home and it's 1020pm not the sort of evening that I would have wished on ourselves.
"It was a very difficult game to referee," said Suter, who was angry with some of the things that happened on the pitch but he told his players afterwards not to use that as an excuse for a bad perfonnance.
The three goals almost became a side issue, as the two sets of players tried to settle scores, which was a shame because Paul Lee's opener, a deft lob over Jason Dumbrill midway through the first half, was a classy effort which contrasted with some of the nasty challenges on display.
Matt Stillman fired into the corner to make it 2-0 ten minutes after the restart and after Ian Ford had missed an injury-time penalty, unmarked captain Alun Morey headed home to complete a miserable night for the Horsham side.
"We lost the game ourselves and I have got no complaints with the result at all. We gave the first two goals away — that cost us the game," conceded Suter.
It was clear from the outset that Selsey were up for the game, and their league position, fourth bottom, compared with YM's second place, soon became irrelevant.
Both teams struggled to string more than three passes together but it was
With a spring in their step, Selsey piled forward looking to extend their lead and Barry
Rishman and goalscorer Lee's long
the home side who were in the
ascendancy early on as Clinton Moore and
Jason Reed tried their luck with long-range shots.
The visitors had their first chance on 14 minutes when Micky Hennessy, who had a frustrating night, shot over the bar from Nick Flint's cross.
Captain Matt Duffield went closer a minute later. Flint found Gil Taylor on the edge of the box and he laid the ball off to Duffield but his shot, with the outside of his boot, arched away from David Leaver in the Selsey goal.
Leaver, with his bleach blonde hair was a dead ringer for Spain keeper Santiago Canizares, then displayed handling that even the Valencia stopper would have been proud of when he held on to Flint's 30-yard drive.
But just as YM looked favourites to take the lead, they gave away a sloppy goal in the 21st minute. Stillman caught the usually y calm and assured Stewart McCreadie in possession ssion 30 yards from goal and the ball fell to a free Lee who knocked it over Dumbrill.
YM pushed for an equaliser as the half came to a close. Hennessy's flick-on at the near post from Nathan Sleat's corner caused panic as it flashed through a crowded box and Paul Young had the last meaningful effort of the half when he shot straight at Leaver after Flint and
Hennessy had linked well.
But Suter's men could not continue the momentum they took into the interval and should have gone two behind ten minutes after the restart. Three YM defenders left the ball to each other allowing Moore to nip in between them but he thumped his shot against the bar from eight yards.
It was a warning that
YM should have paid
more attention to as a
minute later, Stillman
made up for
M o o r e ' s
howler to double the
lead. Selsey kept a deep cross in play at the far post and after YM
missed a number of chances to clear the danger the hosts diminutive midfielder shot into the corner from ten yards.
Young had two chances in as many minutes to reply but he blazed over he bar after Potter's excellent
pass when he could
ave crossed and then found
the side netting when Sleat's free-kick landed invitingly.
The tension that had been heating up finally boiled over after 65 minutes as Alun Morey appeared to elbow Taylor and the pair wrestled each other on the edge of the Selsey box. Yellow cards were shown to each but the spat acted as a catalyst for more trouble.
Potter, who had been YM's best player, was booked for dissent and sent off two minutes later for a late challenge and he should have been joined by the prickly Lee who only saw yellow for grabbing Carden round the neck and was tactfully substituted by the equally spiky Selsey manager Danny Hinshelwood.
David Oakes caught Alun Morey dreadfully late, and second half substitute Phil Fitzgerald left Moore face down in the turf. Both were shown yellow cards.
Suter remonstrated with Hinshelwood that the Selsey players were trying to get the YM players booked or sent off but he was met with a disgraceful volley of abuse from management, substitutes and fans.
Durrant walked, perhaps harshly, for handling Stillman's shot on the line but Ian Ford put the spot-kick into the car park behind the goal.
Deep into injury time, Alun Morey headed a third but the scoreline was far from people's minds as they discussed events in the bar afterwards.
Team: Dumbrill; Durrant, McCreadie, Sleat; Duffield, Flint, Potter, Hennessy (Fitzgerald, 65), Oakes; Young (Carden 70), Taylor (Francis
70).
Match Report